Leitlinien für Forschungsberichte sind auch für Leser medizinischer Fachartikel hilfreich

Zusammenfassung

Leitlinien zur Berichterstattung von medizinischen Forschungsergebnissen („Reporting Guidelines”) finden seit einigen Jahren eine immer breitere Anwendung. Sie beinhalten Empfehlungen und Checklisten, die von Expertengruppen aus Forschern, Methodikern und Herausgebern von Zeitschriften erstellt wurden, um eine transparente Darstellung von wissenschaftlichen Ergebnissen zu gewährleisten. Nach dem CONSORT-Statement für das Berichten von randomisierten kontrollierten Studien (RCTs) wurden mittlerweile weitere wichtige Leitlinien wie STARD für diagnostische Studien, STROBE für Beobachtungsstudien oder QUOROM/PRISMA für systematische Übersichtsarbeiten von RCTs publiziert.

Basierend auf einer Auswahl internationaler Literatur wird das Konzept der Leitlinien für Forschungsberichte vorgestellt und diskutiert. Ausgewählte, besonders relevante Leitlinien werden einzeln dargestellt.

Für verschiedene medizinische Forschungsgebiete bzw. Studientypen existieren mittlerweile Leitlinien für Forschungsberichte. Eine umfassende Übersicht bietet das EQUATOR-Netzwerk (www.equator-network.org). Weitere Leitlinien sind in Vorbereitung. Für einzelne Leitlinien wie z. B. das CONSORT-Statement konnte in Studien bereits gezeigt werden, dass sie zu einer Verbesserung der Berichterstattung medizinischer Forschungsergebnisse beitragen. Vorhandene Leitlinien sollten regelmäßig auf Aktualität überprüft und bei Bedarf angepasst werden.

Leitlinien für Forschungsberichte tragen zur Verbesserung von Publikationen medizinischer Forschungsergebnisse bei. Nicht nur für Autoren, sondern auch für Herausgeber, Reviewer und vor allem den kritischen Leser bieten sie Hilfe im Umgang mit und bei der Qualitätsbewertung von Fachartikeln.

Abstract

Over the last few years reporting guidelines for research papers have had increasing attention and use. They comprise recommendations and checklists, developed by expert groups consisting of researchers, methodologists and journal editors. They aim at ensuring the transparent description of research results. Following the CONSORT statement for the reporting of randomized controlled trials (RCTs), other reporting guidelines such as STARD for diagnostic accuracy studies, STROBE for observational studies and QUOROM for systematic reviews of RCTs have been published.

This article discribes the concept of reporting guidelines for research reports and discusses searches of the international literature based on them. Selected reporting guidelines of particular interest are presented in detail.

Nowadays, reporting guidelines exist for different areas of research and types of studies. The EQUATOR network (www.equator-network.org) offers a comprehensive overview. Other reporting guidelines are being prepared. It has been shown for some guidelines, in particular the CONSORT statement that they contribute to an improvement in reporting medical research. Existing guidelines should be assesed regularly for their timeliness and, if necessary, be updated.

Reporting guidelines contribute to the improvement of the quality of medical research publications. They offer advice how to interpret and critically appraise the medical literature for authors but also for journal editors, reviewers and critical readers.

Schlüsselwörter

Kritisches Lesen - Fachartikel - Leitlinien für Forschungsberichte - EQUATOR-Netzwerk - CONSORT-Statement

Keywords

critical appraisal - research publications - reporting guidelines - EQUATOR network - CONSORT statement

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